As you may or may not know, Sony is developing its own virtual world for PlayStation3. OK, it is another "SL killer" in the race for the metaverse capitol. And once again, the specifica differentia between the two is user generated content. Once again Second Life is the one which will provide you a possibility to be creative. From Extropia DaSilva's Home: No Place Like SL?:
But can you? Can you really? I do not think that is the case at all. Saying "give them prims to build with and they will all be content creators" is a bit like saying "give somebody a canvas, paint and a brush and they will be an artist". Is that true? In a superficial sense I suppose it is, but inevitably one would compare one's own efforts with the likes of Turner, Monet, Picasso, Dali, and guess what? Compared to these exceptional people the "art" most of us are capable of is rubbish. Some people are gifted artists but the majority are not…
Very true, but we should learn a whole lot more from eastern approach to life. There is not only art that is exceptional – the art in the museums and on the walls, there is also art of doing art for art's sake. People are performing art no matter if it is going to be hanged anywhere but in their own bedrooms. And that is not some second grade art which is to be neglected. That is one of the most important activities in our lives.
Humankind has not invented art for the sake of exceptional pieces. Art is there to be performed massively. Masters of art and great pieces does exist, that is for sure, but they exist in cohabitation with a huge amount of people making something that will never reach immortality nor even 15 minutes of popularity. Those two are unseparable. One cannot live without other.
But, let's get back to the Second Life and Sony's Home. Sure that most of the residents are buying stuff, but take a look on the sandboxes – they are full most of the time. And those people there are not professional builders. Maybe some of them will become, but most of them are just having fun, building and socializing. Some people are going out in sandboxes just like some other go to the clubs or staying home with friends.
Creativity is a part of each of us, and it does not matter which form it takes or if we are particularly good at it. Creative process is something that affects both the object (in broadest possible sense) we create and ourselves. That is why the art is with us through the whole history. And that is also the reason of web 2.0's success. We want not only to read the news, we want to blog. We want not only to go to the movies, we want to show our own vids on YouTube. And more important than uploading it is that we want to make them.
Sony did took a peek into what is popular and found out the nice world of web2.0. But web2.0 is not only sharing files and information on YouTube, MySpace and del.icio.us. After all, Sony and other publishing companies are fighting a war against filesharing. This way they want to secure positions in the new media. There is something much more important in it that is known to Lindens. That brings us to the beginning of the DeSilva's essay:
Is SL a "game"? Yes, if you want it to be. Is SL a 3D MySpace? Again, if that is what you want, that is what it is. In fact, Linden Lab have done user-generated content so brilliantly well that SL is both nothing and everything.
Trying to define Second Life is wrong approach. Second Life is a platform. It is a tool box, material and a place to work. It would be complete kit if there were plans inside, but there are not any. Platforms doesn't have plans inside. That is the point. What does that mean? One can build Home or World of Warcraft or any other game or 3d social network in second life. Maybe graphics will not be as cute and sharp but with time passed even that will not be the problem. But one cannot do the other way round. There is no way to make Second Life out of a game.
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